Criminal Justice News

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Local Dentist, Orthodontist Couple Convicted of Making False Statements on Bills to Texas Medicaid

LAREDO, TX—Local dentist Dr. Carlos
Armin Morales-Ryan, 45, and his wife, local orthodontist Dr. Nelia Patricia
Garcia-Morales, 42, have pleaded guilty to a criminal information admitting
they made false statements on bills to Texas Medicaid, United States Attorney
Kenneth Magidson announced today.

Morales-Ryan and Garcia-Morales owned
and operated Orthogenesis International Centre, a Laredo dentistry and
orthodontics business, and a substantial portion of their business was targeted
to rendering services to Medicaid-eligible children. Applicable Texas law and
Medicaid regulations required them to be in their offices when services were
rendered on Medicaid patients as a prerequisite to receiving payment for the
services from Medicaid. Similar consumer protection laws and regulations are
applicable to most types of physicians for many of the services they render in
Texas, regardless of whether the patient is or is not a Medicaid beneficiary.

Morales-Ryan’s signed plea agreement
states that though he and Garcia-Morales were in Hawaii on or about October 12,
2007, he falsely represented to Medicaid that he performed an evaluation and
management of a new patient on that date claiming entitlement to payment.
However, at the time he made this false representation to Medicaid, he and
Garcia-Morales knew the statement was false and that neither of them performed
that service on or about that date. Similarly, Garcia-Morales admitted that
though she and Morales-Ryan were en route to the U.S. Virgin Islands on March 23,
2007, she falsely represented to Medicaid that she performed an orthodontic
retention on that date, claiming entitlement to payment. However, at the time
she made this false representation to Medicaid, she and Morales-Ryan knew the
statement was false and that neither of them performed an orthodontic retention
on or about that date.

Texas Medicaid is a health care program
funded in part by the federal government through payroll taxes and in part by
the state of Texas.

As a result of their plea agreements,
they will be sentenced to five years’ probation and will pay restitution in the
amount of $686,545 to the Texas Health and Human Services Commission-Office of
Inspector General.

Morales-Ryan currently is not licensed
to practice dentistry in Texas due to an unrelated criminal proceeding.

The investigation leading to this
indictment was jointly conducted by the FBI, Department of Health and Human
Services-Office of the Inspector General, and the Texas Attorney General
Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United
States Attorney D.J. Young.